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Devolution

The House of Commons is currently considering the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, and the Scottish Affairs Committee has just published a Report looking at the implications of this Bill for Scotland’s devolution settlement. Committee Chair Pete Wishart outlines the Committee’s work on this subject and sets out the Report’s main conclusions and recommendations.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Amidst the current, noisy, political debate about ‘bonanzas’ and ‘power grabs’ there is some measure of consensus between the UK and Scottish Governments as regards the need for (and value of) UK-wide ‘common frameworks’ post-Brexit, especially in relation to the functioning of markets within the UK. However, as Shepherd and Wedderburn's Gordon Downie explains, what might be described as the opening negotiating positions of the UK and Scottish Governments reveal wide differences on the scope and content of these new common frameworks, and on the constitutional mechanics that should u

Decisions over the repatriation of powers and the role of a 'UK single Market' will have significant implications for the future of devolution and the nature of the UK as a state, says Michael Keating.

Profs Paul Cairney, Nicola McEwen, Aileen McHarg, Karen Turner and David Wilson recently received a UKERC grant to research UK 'energy systems' in the context of multilevel policymaking. They explain that, just to start with, this will require defining many of the subjects of their research.

The repatriation of powers from the EU to the UK and devolved governments is neither straightforward nor, as yet, resolved. Prof Michael Keating examines some of the issues that will play out in terms of determining whether powers from Brussels will default to London on one hand, or Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast on the other.

How can Scotland become a wealthier and fairer (and also healthier, safer, stronger, smarter and greener) country using the powers now devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Michael Keating outlines his most recent book, a collection of essays by CCC fellows on the political economy of constitutional change.

Since the EU referendum, the post-Brexit future for agricultural, regional and rural policies in the UK have been hotly debated. Few of these debates have taken account of the role of the devolved governments in relation to these policies. Although agriculture, regional and rural policy have been heavily influenced by the EU for decades, the devolved governments have played an important role in their development and administration. Repatriating the policies to the UK will pose many political and economic challenges.

In the first of our new blog series, Politics in a Changing Spain, Dr Robert Liñeira (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) looks at the recent parliamentary election and its implications for the future of Spanish politics.

In their contribution to our majority nationalism series, Antoine Bilodeau of Concordia University and Luc Turgeon of the University of Ottawa share the result of their survey which compares the way in which Quebecers and Canadians construct community boundaries.